Darren Young on Support He Received Backstage in WWE After Coming Out, Road Dogg's Tweet from 2011

Former WWE Superstar and WWE Tag Team Champion Darren Young recently spoke to CerritoLive.com about what it was like for him backstage in WWE to openly come out as being homosexual.

On keeping it a secret:

"I was tired of just living my life as a lie." Young admitted, "and for 30 years, I suppressed those feelings for so long, not being myself, not being my true, authentic self, and I was tired of being affectionate behind closed doors, and then, when I'm out in public, I can't be like any other normal couples. That's the best decision for me that I've ever made."

The support he received from C.M. Punk and other WWE Superstars:

"When I came out publicly, I think it was summertime around the time of SummerSlam," Young recalled. "And this was when SummerSlam was being hosted at the Staples Center. The summer I came out, he had a match with Brock Lesnar. And right after his match with Brock Lesnar, in catering, he was all iced up from head to toe, and he approached me in catering in front of everybody, and he told me to stand up. I stood up and he gave me a hug. And he said, 'I'm very proud of you for coming out and being so courageous. If you have any problem with anyone in the locker room because of this, you let me know and I will take care of this.' And he said this to me in front of everyone in catering. I was shocked! Here he just finished his match with Brock Lesnar and him coming up to me and showing me love was very moving to me." 

"CM Punk may be rough around the edges, but he has nothing but love from me. Same with Randy Orton, Big Show, these top guys showed me so much love personably that it made me feel so at ease. It made me feel comfortable. It gave me confidence."

The Tweet that Road Dogg sent out back in 2011 that recently resurfaced:

"Man, that's news to me. To me personally, Road Dogg is an amazing producer, an amazing, amazing talent, and he's a great friend of mine. People say stuff and it is what it is. Me personally, I love Road Dogg. He [has] been very helpful to me backstage and coming up with scenarios. I've got nothing but great things to say [about] Road Dogg. People say stuff, we've all said stuff that we didn't mean to say, but I've got nothing against Road Dogg." Young continued, "Road Dogg is so funny. Anytime I'd see him backstage, he'd walk passed me and say, 'D, won't you take a damn day off?' And I'd say, 'Road Dogg, no, I can't! I've got to hustle! I've got to grind! I've got to be on TV! I've got to do what I've got to do!' 'No, no, no, take a day off!' I said, 'no, Road Dogg.' But I love him. I don't care what anybody says about him."